The Athletic Acceleration Program PART 3 – Explosive Power
Welcome back to the Athletic Acceleration program!
This is it, the final phase! Pat yourself on the back because you did a great job so far.
The maximum strength phase was exhausting, but the end is in sight. We’re now moving on to the explosive power phase, usually the most interesting phase for most athletes.
Introduction
As I’ve mentioned in the last two phases, our workout model consists of sequentially training hypertrophy, and maximum strength, then converting it to explosive power.
Since you developed your maximum force output, the only thing left is to teach our body to express that force quickly.
We only have one phase left, and that’s the 3+1 week power phase.
Once again, your central nervous system is the main factor when it comes to strength and explosive power expression. It tells the muscles how much force to extort and how fast to extort it.
Our goal during this phase is to increase the rate of muscle firing, which we will do with CNS training.
What Is RPE?
RPE is a scale that subjectively measures the intensity of a lift. It goes from 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest intensity on the scale. Everything below 6 could be considered a warmup, while 9 and 10 should be occasionally hit, not every session. You can also label a set with a .5, for example, 8.5, if you’re unsure if you got 1 or 2 reps left in the tank. The majority of your work should be around 7 and 8. You can see the explained scale below.
- 10 — Max effort, you have no more reps left in the tank
- 9 — You have another rep left in you, but it’s a grinder
- 8 — You have around 2 or 3 reps left. This is your sweet spot, along with 7
- 7 — The sweet spot along with 8, you should live here
- 6 — Pretty light. You should add more weight unless said otherwise
- 5 & below — This is basically a warmup
Rest and Nutrition
The same old story all over again, quality sleep and nutrition.
Sleep is a crucial element in reducing the risk of injuries. A recent study showed that athletes who over 8 hours each night were more than 50% less likely to be injured than athletes who regularly slept less.
People who sleep from 8 to 10 hours per night will drastically improve their recovery and, therefore, their performance. To improve the quality of your sleep, try avoiding as much artificial light as you can at least 1 hour before going to bed. Keep your room cool, as research has shown that the optimal room temperature for great sleep is around 18°C or 65°F.
When it comes to nutrition, you should get around 2 and 2.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight. That’s somewhere between 0.9 and 1.1 grams per pound of bodyweight for all you imperial folks.
You should bump up your caloric surplus a bit more during this phase. A balanced diet’s general rule of thumb would be 3:2:1, meaning 3 grams of carbs, 2 grams of protein, and 1 gram of fats. So an athlete weighing 80 kg would need to eat 240 g of carbs, 160 g of protein, and 80 g of fats.
The supplements that I always recommend are creatine and whey protein. Whey is great at helping you reach your protein goals for the day, although it most definitely isn’t a steroid. Creatine will allow you to recover faster and produce more force. The dose that researchers recommend is somewhere around 0.1 g of creatine per kilogram of body weight, but you need to make sure you don’t take more than 5 grams at once because it might lead to some stomach problems you don’t want to experience.
A Few Details Before You Start
The name of the game in this phase is maximum intent.
Maximum intent basically means you’re trying to complete the concentric part of the movement as fast as possible. The concentric portion of a lift is usually the upward motion.
The only exception to this rule are back exercises, since the concentric portion is the part of the movement where you get closer to the bar, or the bar gets closer to you.
You MUSTN’T go to failure on any of the main lifts. Follow the RPE guidelines closely.
Make sure you’re being as explosive as possible during the exercises that have “explosive” in their name. This goes for pogo jumps, countermovement jumps, trap bar jumps, and box jumps too.
The rest time in between explosive exercises needs to be long so you can be fully rested for the next set. Being fully rested is key in this phase. If needed, increase the rest intervals between your main sets. You can also bring down the reps a bit if you had a bad night’s sleep or are just feeling bad in the gym on a given day.
Proper form is vital in this phase too. You should never sacrifice the correct technique for more weight.
A proper warmup before every workout is also a must. First, get your heart rate going for 3-5 minutes by walking on an incline, then do a dynamic warmup. After that, you should activate your core, glutes, and scapular stabilizers, and you’re good to go.
A belt isn’t necessary but go for it if you feel more comfortable using it.
You should do t
he main exercises with a controlled descent and a maximally explosive concentric.
The intensity will ramp up during the first three weeks, ending with a 1-week deload at the end of the phase. By deloading at the end, you’ll get some much-needed rest and be able to fully showcase your newfound athleticism.
The split used for this phase will be a Full Body, 3 times a week split.
Exercises are labeled with letters. For example, exercises labeled as A1 and A2 mean that you should perform a superset, while exercises labeled just as A, B, C, etc., represent straight sets. We will note the RPE only for the main exercises. Don’t go to failure unless it’s advised otherwise.
The % 1RM column represents what percentage of your previously tested 1RM you should use for a given exercise.
| Phase 3 – Explosive Power | ||||||
| WEEK 1 | ||||||
| Monday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Explosive Trap Bar Deadlift | 5 | 3 | 8 | 70 | 3 min |
| B | Explosive Bench Press | 5 | 3 | 8 | 70 | 3 min |
| C | Seated Single Arm Overhead Press | 3 | 10 | 8-9 | / | 2 min |
| D1 | Face Pulls | 3 | 15 | / | / | 1 min |
| D2 | Cable Woodchoppers | 3 | 8 | / | / | 1.5 min |
| Wednesday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Trap Bar Deadlift | 5 | 3 | 8 | 82.5 | 3 min |
| B | Seated Row | 3 | 8 | 9 | / | 2 min |
| C | Explosive Landmine Split Press | 3 | 8/8 | 8 | / | 2 min |
| D1 | Stir The Pot | 3 | 7/7 | / | / | 1.5 min |
| D2 | Pogo Jumps | 3 | 10 | / | / | 1 min |
| Friday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Explosive Back Squat | 5 | 3 | 8 | 70 | 3 min |
| B | Rotational Medicine Ball Throw | 3 | 4/4 | 8 | 5 lbs | 2 min |
| C1 | Hip Thrust | 3 | 8 | 9 | / | 2 min |
| C2 | Straight Leg Calf Raise | 2 | 12 | 9 | / | 2 min |
| D | Bulgarian Split Squat Iso Hold | 2 | 30 sec | / | / | 1.5 min |
Congrats on finishing the first week! Be sure to get enough food and sleep during the weekend to be ready for the next week.
| Phase 3 – Explosive Power | ||||||
| WEEK 2 | ||||||
| Monday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Explosive Trap Bar Deadlift | 4 | 5 | 8 | 60 | 3 min |
| B | Explosive Bench Press | 4 | 5 | 8 | 60 | 3 min |
| C | Seated Single Arm Overhead Press | 3 | 8-9 | 8-9 | / | 2 min |
| D1 | Pogo Jumps | 3 | 10 | / | / | 1 min |
| D2 | Cable Woodchoppers | 3 | 8 | / | / | 1.5 min |
| Wednesday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Explosive Bench Press | 4 | 5 | 8 | 50 | 3 min |
| B | Explosive Landmine Split Press | 3 | 8/8 | 7 | / | 2.5 min |
| C | Countermovement Jump | 3 | 5 | 8 | / | 2 min |
| D1 | Stir The Pot | 3 | 7/7 | / | / | 1.5 min |
| D2 | Pogo Jumps | 3 | 10 | / | / | 1 min |
| Friday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Explosive Back Squat | 5 | 5 | 8 | 60 | 3 min |
| B | Rotational Medicine Ball Throw | 4 | 4/4 | 8 | 5 lbs | 2 min |
| C1 | Hip Thrust | 3 | 8 | 9 | / | 2 min |
| C2 | Pogo Jumps | 3 | 10 | 9 | / | 1 min |
| D | Bulgarian Split Squat Iso Hold | 2 | 30 sec | / | / | 1.5 min |
Week two is done. Good job!
Get enough food and sleep, because the next week will be the hardest one so far!
| Phase 3 – Explosive Power | ||||||
| WEEK 3 | ||||||
| Monday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Trap Bar Jump | 5 | 4 | 8 | 40 | 3.5 min |
| B | Countermovement Jump | 2 | 5 | 8 | / | 2 min |
| C | Plyo Pushups | 3 | 5 | 8 | / | 2 min |
| D | Stir The Pot | 3 | 8/8 | / | / | 1 min |
| E | Pallof Press | 3 | 8/8 | / | / | 1 min |
| Wednesday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Explosive Bench Press | 4 | 5 | 8 | 50 | 3 min |
| B | Explosive Landmine Split Press | 3 | 8/8 | 7 | / | 2 min |
| C | Box Jump | 3 | 6 | 8 | / | 2 min |
| D | Pogo Jumps | 3 | 10 | / | / | 1 min |
| E | Explosive Wood Choppers | 3 | 6/6 | 8 | / | 1.5 min |
| Friday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Explosive Back Squat | 5 | 5 | 8 | 50 | 3.5 min |
| B | Rotational Medicine Ball Throw | 4 | 5/5 | 8 | 10 lbs | 2 min |
| C | Seated Row | 3 | 8 | 9 | / | 2 min |
| D | Stir The Pot | 3 | 8/8 | / | / | 2 min |
| E | Pallof Press | 3 | 8/8 | / | / | 2 min |
Congrats, you just finished your last intense week!
Next week will be your deload and your final week.
Rest up and take it easy during week 4. That way, you’ll maximize your gains.
| Phase 3 – Explosive Power | ||||||
| WEEK 4 – DELOAD | ||||||
| Monday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Countermovement Jump | 3 | 3 | 6 | / | 2 min |
| B | Plyo Pushups | 2 | 5 | 6 | / | 2 min |
| C | Pogo Jumps | 2 | 10 | / | / | 2 min |
| D | Explosive Wood Choppers | 2 | 8 | / | / | 2 min |
| Wednesday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Explosive Bench Press | 5 | 3 | 6 | 50 | 3 min |
| B | Explosive Landmine Split Press | 3 | 6/6 | 6 | / | 2 min |
| C | Pogo Jumps | 3 | 10 | / | / | 1 min |
| Friday | ||||||
| # | Exercise | Sets | Reps | RPE | %1RM | Rest |
| A | Rotational Medicine Ball Throw | 3 | 5/5 | 6 | 5 lbs | 2 min |
| B | Box Jump | 3 | 6 | 6 | / | 2 min |
| C | Pogo Jumps | 3 | 10 | / | / | 1 min |